Q: It is a good thing to provide free textbooks to students with financial difficulties in rural compulsory education, which benefits the poor people and students in rural areas and attracts wide attention from all walks of life. Please talk about why this system should be implemented.
A: The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have always attached great importance to rural compulsory education. In recent years, according to the deployment of the State Council, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education have conscientiously implemented the rural compulsory education management system of "the State Council leadership, local hierarchical management and county-oriented". The newly-increased education funds are mainly used in rural areas. Together with relevant departments in the State Council, we have implemented compulsory education projects in poverty-stricken areas, renovation projects of dilapidated buildings in rural primary and secondary schools, modern distance education projects in rural areas and construction projects of rural boarding schools in western regions. At the same time, the central government also arranged special transfer payments for rural primary and secondary school teachers' salaries, adjusted the transfer payments, and subsidized rural teachers' salaries in the central and western regions. These measures have played an important role in ensuring the sustainable and healthy development of rural compulsory education. However, in order to speed up the pace and consolidate the achievements of the "nine-year consistent system", in addition to improving the teaching staff and school conditions, we must also solve an important problem, that is, increase the financial assistance to students from poor families so that these students can successfully receive and complete the nine-year compulsory education.
Since the reform and opening up, China's rural compulsory education has made brilliant achievements. By the end of 2003, the number of students in rural compulsory education in China had reached 654.38+54 million. As China is still in the primary stage of socialism, the regional economic development is unbalanced, and there are still a large number of poor people in rural areas, who have different degrees of difficulty in paying for their children's schooling. At present, there are more than 24 million students with financial difficulties in compulsory education in rural areas of central and western China.
The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to ensuring that students from poor families in rural areas receive compulsory education. The State Council's "Decision on Further Strengthening Rural Education" requires that by 2007, all students with financial difficulties in rural compulsory education will enjoy "two exemptions and one subsidy" (free of book fees, free of miscellaneous fees and subsidized living expenses for boarders), and efforts will be made to prevent students from dropping out of school due to financial difficulties. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education have always regarded the work of subsidizing students from poor families in rural compulsory education as an important task of governing for the people, practicing Theory of Three Represents and ensuring the sustainable and healthy development of rural compulsory education in China. Combined with the actual situation in our country, they have been committed to studying, formulating and constantly improving the policies and measures for subsidizing students from poor families in rural primary and secondary schools. Since 1980s, the central government has arranged grants for compulsory education every year. With the consent of the State Council, starting from the autumn of 200 1, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education will jointly provide free textbooks for students with financial difficulties in compulsory education in rural areas in the central and western regions. The special fund for free textbooks arranged by the central government was 654.38 billion yuan in 2006, increased to 200 million yuan in 2002 and 400 million yuan in 2003. The benefit of poor students in rural primary and secondary schools in the central and western regions increased from 10% in 2006 to 32% in 2003. The system of providing textbooks free of charge has been implemented for three years and has been welcomed by farmers. All localities have reflected that the implementation of the system of providing textbooks free of charge is an important measure to practice Theory of Three Represents, implement the spirit of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee, adhere to the people-oriented principle and focus on the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. It is an effective way to fundamentally solve the "three rural issues" and effectively reduce the burden on farmers; Ensuring students from poor rural families to receive compulsory education is an important strategic measure to accelerate the development of rural education and improve the quality of rural population. It is also a major reform of the central government in terms of subsidy links and support methods to better promote the development of rural compulsory education, which is conducive to accelerating the pace of public finance covering rural areas.
Q: Who are the students who provide free textbooks?
A: Free textbooks are provided to students in compulsory education (including special education students) in rural areas who cannot afford textbooks due to family financial difficulties. According to the degree of poverty, students with financial difficulties in rural compulsory education are given financial assistance, and orphans, children from absolute poverty and low-income families, and children with financial difficulties caused by emergencies are given priority. Poor students who enjoy free textbooks are determined by local education, financial departments and schools according to the average annual income level of poor households and the degree of family economic difficulties. The textbooks provided free of charge are determined according to the current national compulsory education curriculum plan (special education school curriculum plan).
Q: How much money will the central government invest in providing textbooks for free in the new semester this fall? What is the coverage?
A: Starting from this autumn, the central government will increase the special fund for free textbooks from 300 million yuan this spring to 870 million yuan. The central government gives key subsidies to 22 central and western provinces such as Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Tibet and Xinjiang, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
After the central special fund for free textbooks was increased to 870 million yuan per semester (65.438+74 billion yuan for one academic year), the actual benefit of free textbooks was extended to more than 24 million poor students in all rural compulsory education stages in the central and western regions, accounting for 22% of the total number of rural students in the central and western regions. Funding for these students will not only help to alleviate the real poverty problem of 29 million poor groups and more than 56 million low-income groups in China, but also play an irreplaceable role in accelerating the development of rural education, improving the quality of rural human resources and fundamentally preventing and reducing future poverty.
Q: The central government has invested a lot of money in the distribution of free textbooks. What measures have the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education taken to ensure the smooth implementation of this work?
A: Providing free textbooks for students with financial difficulties in rural compulsory education is a major event that concerns the vital interests of the people. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance attach great importance to all aspects of this work. In order to do this well, in March this year, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education jointly formulated and issued the Interim Measures for the Administration of Free Textbooks for Students from Poor Families in Rural Compulsory Education, which clearly defined the scope of funding, the identification of poor students, the purchase and distribution of free textbooks, and the management of funds. In the process of poor students' application, relevant schools are required to disclose funding information through effective channels, including funding conditions, funding quotas, funding application, review, approval, supervision and appeal procedures; It is necessary to form an evaluation team composed of schools, parents of students and teachers' representatives to review the poverty level of students' families who apply for free textbooks, draw up a list of aided students, and publicize them within the scope of schools and towns where students are located. The publicity period is not less than 7 days. In the aspect of purchasing free textbooks, provincial finance and education departments are required to organize government procurement in a unified way, and all the funds saved by provincial bidding procurement are used to subsidize poor students. In terms of fund management, it is stipulated that the special funds for free textbooks issued by the central government should be unified into the provincial treasury management, accounted for separately, paid centrally and operated in a closed way to ensure earmarking. In addition, in areas where the "one-fee system" charging standard is implemented, students who enjoy free textbook funding are exempted from the cost of textbooks with the same price. In the future, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education will continue to strengthen the management and supervision of the whole process of distributing textbooks free of charge, truly implement this system and do a good job.
Q: Providing textbooks free of charge is an important part of the "two exemptions and one subsidy" funding system. What responsibilities should local governments bear in implementing the "two exemptions and one subsidy" funding policy?
A: According to the Interim Measures for the Administration of Free Textbooks for Students from Poor Families in Rural Compulsory Education, in areas where the central government gives special funds for free textbooks, local governments should bear the responsibility of exempting miscellaneous fees and subsidizing the living expenses of boarders (that is, "one exemption and one subsidy"). Local governments at all levels, especially provincial governments, should strive to adjust the fiscal expenditure structure, ensure that the funds needed for "one exemption and one subsidy" are put in place, and gradually implement the "one exemption and one subsidy" policy. At the end of each year, the provincial finance and education administrative departments should report to the central finance on the implementation and use of the "two exemptions and one subsidy" funds.